By: Diane Benjamin
I’ve been writing about the Coliseum (Grossinger Motors Arena) for YEARS. This “White Elephant” has been a constant drain on taxpayers since it was conceived. The losses are huge, theft is being prosecuted, the City failed to oversee operations, economic impact numbers are made up, and new management is doing little to fix it.
VenuWorks just came out with an un-audited loss for the year ending 4/30/18: $667,350 http://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/government-and-politics/arena-ends-fiscal-year-k-in-the-red/article_ad1d85ce-0f0a-5306-9f84-d6642191543a.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1
For the year ended 4/39/17 VenuWorks showed an un-audited loss of $668,308.13 http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=15492
Reporting on Coliseum losses is now the same fiction citizens have endured since the place was built. Media jumps on whatever numbers management releases but:
media fails to report on audited numbers
Do you know what the audited loss was for 4/30/17? Anybody? Anybody?
Of course not, the media has ignored that number.
http://www.cityblm.org/home/showdocument?id=15348
(2,028,881)
That $2 million loss includes depreciation of $1,026,309. I’m sure VenuWorks didn’t include that in their reporting of the $668,308 loss, so let’s take it out. ( 2,028,881 – 1,026,309 ).
Comparing apples to apples, VenuWorks lost $1,002,572 last year. That’s $334,264 more than what they and the media reported!
The point is: VenuWorks did not lose $667,350 as of 4/30/18. The actual loss, once the audit is complete, will be much higher. Of course the media will ignore it because the City of Bloomington will attempt to hide actual data for as long as possible. Last year, even though all audits were complete way before December, nothing was released to the public until the middle of December.
Transparency doesn’t exist.
We don’t know what the loss for 2016 was. When the previous management left they either destroyed or took all the financials with them. Again, the City and David Hales failed to protect the integrity of a taxpayer asset. 2016 is missing: http://www.cityblm.org/government/advanced-components/documents/-folder-411
The VenuWorks management agreement is in effect until June 30, 2021. http://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=10901
A building that is empty most of the time will never show a profit. The Council needs to plan now to shut it down. The Ice Center (still unnamed years after Pepsi quit sponsoring it) needs more ice. Give it to them. Cancel the outside elevator, it won’t be needed if no events are held.
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